Schlee et al., Immunity, 2009, 31, 25-34 describe blunt-ended double stranded RNAs carrying a 5′-O-triphosphate moiety on one of the strands that act as potent stimulators of the immune system by binding the RIG-I helicase. Thus, there is a need to provide a simple and efficient method for preparing triphosphate-modified oligonucleotides in high purity, suitable for pharmaceutical applications.
The coupling of triphosphate groups or analogues thereof to the 5′-OH group of nucleosidic compounds is well known in the art. Ludwig J. et al., J. Org. Chem., 1989, 54, 631-635 disclose a solution triphosphorylation method for preparing 5′-O-triphosphates of nucleosides and analogues using 2-chloro-4H-1,3,2-benzodioxaphosphorin-4-one as the phosphitylating agent. Gaur R. K. et al.,1992, Tetrahedron Letters, 33, 3301-3304 describe the use of said method on solid-phase for the synthesis of 2′-O-methylribonucleoside 5′-O-triphosphates and their Pα-thio analogues. U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,308 B2 discloses the solid-phase synthesis of modified nucleoside 5′-O-triphosphates as potential antiviral compounds and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,285,658, 7,598,230 and 7,807,653 disclose triphosphate analogues of nucleosides with modifications in the sugar, nucleobase and in the triphosphate entity. WO96/40159 describes a method for producing capped RNA or RNA analogue molecules, wherein an RNA or RNA analogue oligonucleotide is reacted with a phosphitylating agent such as 2-chloro-4H-1,3,2-benzodioxaphosphorin-4-one or a ring-substituted derivative thereof. The resulting intermediate is reacted with a phosphate or pyrophosphate or salt thereof, oxidized or hydrolyzed. The di- or triphosphorylated RNA or RNA analogue is capped by reacting with an activated m7G tri-, di- or monophosphate or analogue.
WO 2009/060281 describes immune stimulatory oligoribonucleotide analogues containing modified oligophosphate moieties and methods for the preparation of such compounds. This method includes the synthesis of the oligonucleotide on a solid support, reacting a nucleotide at a 5′-end of the oligonucleotide with a phosphitylating agent such as 2-chloro-4H-1,3,2-benzodioxaphosphorin-4-one in a suitable solvent and in the presence of a base, reacting the phosphitylated oligonucleotide with a pyrophosphate or pyrophosphate analogue, oxidizing the oligonucleotide with an oxidizing agent and deprotecting the oligonucleotide to give a triphosphate- or triphosphate analogue-modified oligonucleotide.
Polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis as employed in WO 96/40159 is applicable only for small scale separations. The resolution power of ion exchange chromatography for 5′-mono-, di-, triphosphorylated products of longer oligoribonucleotides is limited. The required denaturing conditions make separation a tedious task (Sproat, 1999; Zlatev, 2010; WO 2009/060281), moreover, products are usually contaminated with n-1, n-2 sequences and their mono- and diphosphates resulting in insufficient purity. Given the sensitivity for precise terminal structures of the RIG-I ligands, these purification methods are suboptimal for pharmacological applications.
Dual targeting strategies (siRNA and RIG ligand) require general sequence independent purification methods.